by Rob Jenkins
Daily Lobo
Anchorage, Alaska is a city of about 260,000 people nestled in the southern part of the "land of the midnight sun." It is a land of uncharted tundra wilderness, perpetual daylight and of course hockey.
Albuquerque, N. M. is a city of roughly twice Anchorage's size and was settled in what seems to be a world away from its frozen counterpart. It is a land of vast desert frontier, watermelon sunsets and of course basketball. With as many differences as these two places hold, they share at least one thing in common, the Solis brothers.
Edgar, Oscar and Erik Solis are a trio of forwards for the New Mexico Ice Wolves. They moved to New Mexico in 1993. While the move from a land of hockey to a place where there is seldom ice proved to be a difficult transition at first, all three brothers find themselves right at home in Albuquerque, especially in an Ice Wolves jersey.
Edgar Solis, the oldest of the trio, has accounted for 12 goals and nine assists this season for the Ice Wolves. Erik Solis, the youngest of the three, has contributed two goals and three assists. Oscar Solis, the man in the middle, has been responsible for 2 goals and 1 assist (Oscar has appeared in only two games thus far.)
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While this brotherhood of forwards has shown they are not afraid to put the puck in the net, it is their hard nosed brand of hockey that is gaining them, as well as the entire Ice Wolves team, the recognition they deserve in the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Hockey Association.
"The best part of hockey is that you get to give it as well as take it," Edgar said.
"We don't want to sound like goons," Oscar adds, "but we like to mix it up."
Mix it up indeed, in addition to accounting for 16 of the Ice Wolves 39 goals, the Solis Brothers have accounted for 56 of the Ice Wolves 241 total penalty minutes. To clarify, that means exciting hockey. But excitement and offense are not the only two qualities the Solis brothers bring to New Mexico's hockey club.
The brothers are trying to extend their family to include all of the Ice Wolves in the locker room.
"As corny as it sounds, we're a big family," Oscar said. "We try to take our brotherly relationship into the locker room."
Brotherly love is not the only advantage to having three brothers on the team.
"The good thing about having your brothers on the team is watching each other," Oscar said. "We know how much better each other can play."
"Yeah, it brings a nice competitive thing with us," Edgar adds. "We make bets."
When asked who won the most recent of these bets, Oscar is not at all shy about offering a name.
"I won the last bet," he said. "It really just loosens things up. You can't play without fun."
Sitting, talking with the Solis brothers it becomes apparent that it is about just that, fun, fun and teammates.
"We have to mention our teammates, they're exceptional," Edgar says as he nods in agreement with Erik and Oscar to punctuate his thought.
